Craig lives in Georgia and wants to swap his Outback for a truck that can haul some lumber but still be manageable with a kid in a car seat. With a budget of up to $25,000 what car should he buy?
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Here is the scenario.
“I need a truck with enough room to take my kid to school but at the same time I would like some clearance in the back to fit 2×4’s or my pressure washer. I had a Subaru Outback but I herniated a disc in my lower back taking my kid out so a vehicle with a little ground clearance is a must. Anything to avoid bending down while trying to wrangle a kid in the back would be great. I had friends tell me to avoid Nissans due to reliability issues. Other than that I am open to any options. I don’’t want to spend more than $25,000”
Quick Facts:
Budget: $25,000
Location: Cumming, GA
Daily Driver: Yes
Wants: Decent back seat, respectable bed size
Doesn’t want: A Nissan
Expert 1: Tom McParland- The Truck That Drives Like A Car
It’s tough to get a pickup that can also comfortably manage a car seat, especially in that sub-$ $25,000 bracket. Often you end up with a solid work truck but a compromised family car or vice-versa. I would suggest you think about it this way, how often are you dropping the kid off at school versus hauling large loads? I would bet the frequency of school drop-offs is much greater, so you will want to prioritize the ease and comfort of that task. In that case, the Honda Ridgeline may be your best bet.
The Ridgeline is a truck that drives like a car, the back seat area will fit a car seat comfortably and you don’t need to do yoga to wrangle the kiddo in and out. The trunk is plenty big for your pressure washer and other gear, though some 2x4s will have to be loaded at an angle. Hondas hold their value well, so finding one without a ton of miles is tricky. You may have to stretch your budget just a bit to score something like this 2020 with 55,000 miles.
Expert 2: Collin Woodard – An Extra Inch Helps
Well, Craig, you happen to be in luck. I grew up in Georgia, and several of my closest friends graduated from Forsyth Central, so I know a lot about Cumming. It’s been a while since I’ve been back, but I always enjoyed Cumming, and it still has a special place in my heart even if most of their parents have moved away. So trust me when I say you don’t need a truck.
I mean, if you really want a truck, I’m not going to stop you. I certainly haven’t been able to stop many other people who live outside the Perimeter from buying trucks, but at the same time, the two things you say you need to haul are 2x4s and a pressure washer. I get why you’d be drawn in by the allure of filling your truck bed with 2x4s, especially in an area where trucks are so common. Instead, I say we go with a newer version of your old car that gives you more of that sweet, sweet ground clearance.
I am, of course, talking about the Subaru Outback Wilderness. You get 0.8 inches of extra ground clearance, bringing it to a total of 9.5 inches. Your body will thank you while you’re getting the kids in and out of the car, but it will also thank you when you sit down in the driver’s seat, and it isn’t bolted to a body-on-frame pickup truck with a live rear axle.
Now, the Outback Wilderness is relatively new, so you probably won’t find many $15k-$20k options, but I was able to find a 2022 model with 80,000 miles on it down in Brunswick for about $27,000. There are no guarantees, but I’d be willing to bet you could negotiate a few thousand dollars off that price so you don’t end up breaking the bank.
Expert 3: Logan Carter – Make A Statement
Hey Craig, I feel like I’m usually very rational with my car buying advice, but this time I want you to follow your heart. Sure the Outback might have done the trick, but now is your chance to set your kid up to be admired by their peers. Envied, even. I think the Hummer H2 SUT is the perfect pickup to keep your back in good shape, keep your child safe, and handle all the wood in Cumming. I hear from my colleague Collin that people in Cumming love Hummers, so you’ll probably make a lot of new friends who respect and admire you, too.
Much like your Outback, the Hummer H2 SUT is a crossover vehicle. It’s a cross between an SUV and a pickup truck, so it maintains a spacious and usable cabin while adding the limitless versatility of a three-foot long truck bed. If you need to haul longer pieces of wood, the H2 SUT has the unique ability to lengthen its bed to a capacious six-feet of bed length by folding down the mid-gate.
Beyond the H2 SUT’s nearly boundless versatility, it’s also got a lot more swagger than the Outback that hurt you. You gave the “logical” car a shot, and it ended up herniating your disc. Now’s the time to break out the big guns and tote your family around in something with presence, power, and panache. Plus it’s built on the GMT800 platform which is considered by some to be the holy grail of truck chassis and it has ample parts available so it should be easy to live with. This 2007 Hummer H2 SUT on AutoTrader is hardly out of its break-in period with just under 118,000 measly little miles on the odometer and it’s a steal at just $23,995. You’ll even have some extra dough to cover your new truck’s slight affinity for gas! You can thank me later, Craig.
Expert 4: Not Too Big, Not Too Small. Just Right
Craig, since you have kids and you’ve had problems with your back, you don’t need an actual pickup. What you need is something with the versatility of a pickup, but with car-like sensibilities of a crossover. That my friend, means you need a Hyundai Santa Cruz in your life.
The brilliance of the Santa Cruz is in it’s bed. Some may say it’s small, which is true, but the bed is full of little features that’ll quickly make you forget about its size. For instance, you mentioned how you wanted to haul 2x4s. The Santa Cruz’s bed has slots built into it specifically for 2x4s or 2x6s. There are other features like tie-down points, d-rings and the best part, an in-bed trunk that you can fill with drinks when tailgating.
The best part about the Santa Cruz though? You can pick one up for a song used. That sweet, sweet depreciation hits Korean cars pretty hard. This means you can find one just a couple years old in your price range. Like this example in Morrow, Georgia. This is a Santa Cruz Premium. This means other features like all-wheel drive, a turbocharged engine and heated front seats among other things. All this for just $23,181.